Rather than voting for or against a debt ceiling increase, lawmakers should vote to eliminate the debt ceiling entirely, suggest UMBC political science professor Roy T. Meyers and colleague Philip G. Joyce in a recent Baltimore Sun op-ed.
The scholars call the debt ceiling “an anachronism that causes more harm than good” and “a distraction from any reasonable debate on taxes and spending.” They suggest Congress should vote to repeal it, set reasonable targets for debt reduction over a multiyear period, and then use performance data to identify which government programs do and don’t work. Such data could inform arguments for cutting, sustaining or boosting spending for different programs.
Tags: CAHSS, PoliticalScience
